Igaliku Agreement Press Release
Partnership with Greenland
Press Release: Enhancing Cooperation Between the United States and Greenland
Secretary Powell, Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller, and Greenland Home Rule Deputy Premier Josef Motzfeldt today signed an agreement to amend and supplement the 1951 agreement on the Defense of Greenland. They also signed separate Joint Declarations on economic and technical cooperation and environmental cooperation in Greenland.
The Agreement to amend and supplement the 1951 Defense Agreement is a timely modernization which reflects the existence of a wide ranging Greenland Home Rule. It captures and codifies collaborative practices as they have evolved over the last half century.
The Joint Declaration on Economic and Technical Cooperation establishes a new framework for broad cooperation, in fields that include research, technology and energy cooperation, environmental issues, education, development, tourism, air traffic planning and trade that will provide mutual benefits for our citizens.
In the Joint Declaration on Cooperation on the Environment in Greenland, the partners undertake to cooperate with regard to the prevention of and combating of pollution as well as the protection of nature and the landscape in Greenland. (A Fact Sheet with further details on both Joint Declarations can be accessed at www.state.gov.).
At the signing ceremony, the Secretary noted that “I am proud to help inaugurate a new era of broader cooperation between the United States and Greenland. The documents that we just signed here constitute the framework for this broader cooperation. The Declaration on Economic and Technical Cooperation establishes a Joint Committee that will identify, consider and, subject to funding approval, agree to proposals for joint cooperation projects. The Joint Committee will be empowered to make real our commitment to cooperation producing concrete benefits both in the near and long terms. The measure of success will be tangible results, not just words. I have entrusted United States Ambassador to Denmark Stuart Bernstein, who is here with us today, to lead our delegation to the Joint Committee’s first meeting that will be held here in Greenland in autumn. In the years ahead, the United States looks forward to working with the Greenland Home Rule government to deepen and strengthen our valued cooperation.”